Spirit of Collaboration

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During WW2 the UK government introduced a Dig for Victory campaign that called for every man and woman in Britain to keep an allotment. Lawns and flower-beds were turned into vegetable gardens. Over ten million instructional leaflets were distributed to the British people. The propaganda campaign was successful and it was estimated that over 1,400,000 people had allotments.Today during WW3 that is the financial crisis, the global economic downturn, the arab spring, the wars in Afghanistan and social unrest brewing throughout Europe, the government has its hands full, there's no money for Big Society, front line services are being cut or axed and meanwhile, in another part of the world, thousands of civilians are suffering from the effects of malnutrition and extreme deprivation. There's a movement begun based on the idea of solidarity, in the same vein as was generated during WW2 and this time it's called Dig for Solidarity and this time around it's UK citizens helping vulnerable families overseas to create their own nationwide food security and self sufficiency.In the war effort Britain scrapped metal railings, pots and pans, anything that could be used and turned them into munitions, tanks, planes. Now we're looking at a 21st century form of alchemy, turning coppers into greens, or to be precise, turning pennies into seeds and these seeds will be used to grow healthy food all year around to shift the families involved from vulnerability to food security and healthy diets.Like anything simple and powerful, it begins small, it begins at the ground level and works by involving schools and businesses and ordinary people all working together in the war effort, only this time the war isn't with each other, it's a war on an old mindset, a mindset that says this is someone else's problem and victory in this war means a triumph over adversity, a victory over complacency, a celebration of our potential to work together for greater goals than we can achieve on our own.The journey is about the sharing of an idea, the inspiring of young people, the inclusion of whole communities and it begins with a trusty Land Rover, an icon of British engineering, a leading piece of equipment that's worked in every war zone around the world, in international development, in peace keeping, in farming for the past 60 years.The first vehicle in this campaign is being crowd sourced, sponsored by ordinary people each putting in a small amount to get it moving, to get it on the road and into the schools, to help spread the idea into the hearts and minds of future leaders, our children.You can play a small part in this journey and add your contribution here.If you check around the house you've doubtless got some old coppers lying around, in jars, down the sofa, in jacket pockets, wherever there's some old coppers, collect it all together and add it to the war effort. If you haven't got any, start collecting today and mentally add a penny on each time you shop, see how many you spend each day, then imagine these pennies turning into healthy food for a family somewhere in the world.Remember Keep Calm and add a Penny On!EditAnd a huge thank you to Lyndon Wood, who's already emptied his piggy bank and found 50,000 pennies in there and been the first to donate in this new campaign.Martin